Francesca Kathleen Conterno

Francesca’s research looks at the short life-cycle of a little-known commodity, which nonetheless serves as an essential component of our global food system. Fishmeal is a key marine ingredient in the larger world of intermediary food commodities–those organic substances which allow for the spatial and material re-combination of our Earth. Fishmeal in particular is used in animal feed formulations (largely in aquaculture) and occasionally as fertilizer. Working along the coast of Peru, where the bulk of the world supply in fishmeal is processed from the humble anchovy, Francesca boarded industrial fishing vessels; visited fishmeal processing plants; followed anchovy resource paths from docks through city markets; and tracked resource supply and price-swings across several fishing seasons. Through a focus on the politics of use of the upwelling-rich Humboldt current as oceanic resource; as well as an exploration of its distribution at local, regional, and global scales, Francesca shows how movements centered around eating local or national meet our thoroughly transnational food system; and what happens when organic matter changes form and place in a bid to multiply and transfigure food supplies.